Google Play Music gets direct streaming support for Sonos systems

Today, Google and Sonos have announced a partnership that will see the popular home music systems get fully integrated into Google Play Music for Android. Google's Android music service is being updated to include full Sonos support, allowing users to beam content directly to their Sonos systems on the same Wi-Fi network.

"As we continue to invest in the way you experience and control your music at home, curating and managing an array of services across multiple rooms, the benefits of playing your music to Sonos directly from these very services is clear," Sonos said in a blog post regarding the Google Play Music integration.

While Sonos already has a method of doing this via its own controller apps, now a small casting button in the top right corner of Google Play Music gives users a direct option.

While it is a nice feature, there a few reasons why some users will prefer to stick with the Sonos controller apps that already exist and have been recently updated. Google Play Music is also integrated into the Sonos app along with other popular services like Spotify, Pandora, iTunes and Beats Music as well as a number of others.

Unlike the Sonos integration in Play Music, the Sonos controller app is not limited to a single target and will allow users to beam content to multiple speakers (players) at once. Arguably one of the main selling features of the Sonos systems is the ability to have your music playing in multiple rooms in such an elegant fashion, so unless you are a single Sonos system user, the Sonos apps are likely more useful.